Vivre L'Aventure
by Flusion
Summary: Conelle left her home, to make the journey of life and discovery. She needs to know what her purpose in life is to be. Shortly after departing from home, Conelle meets a boy who helps to change her life for the better. Meanwhile a powerful new organization has shown it's face. Conelle will truly learn what it means to be living the adventure.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: here it is my first Pokemon fic, and I am happy to present it to anyone out there who is willing to read it. I've written many fanfictions for various fandoms but this is the first time i'm making a commitment to a story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon and probably never will.**

Conelle woke up inside her green tent. Her hair was strewn about the little one person space, as she had very much of it. Even under her toasty sleeping bag she could tell that this was going to be a chilly morning. Watery light shone through her tent and illuminated all the great beads of water that collected on her tent. Conelle was surprised that her tent had neither leaked nor blown away with her in it.

There had been a ferocious storm the night before. She could hear it coming from a miles away and quickly took as much action as she could. She had found a large rock that was big enough to cover her tent, and then set up her tent facing away from the wind. The storm came in time for her to be able to set her tent up and take shelter in the little thing.

Now that the storm was over, and it was morning she could get on with her journey. This of course meant mustering the inspiration to get up and out of the warmth of her sleeping bag. This gathering of her strength nearly took half an hour. As she stood up in her tent, unprotected from the cold, she shivered. She hugged her sides to alleviate some of the chill.

After she stood in place adjusting to the cold temperatures of this morning, she stretched, lifting her arms up over her and in a great big motion. This was accompanied by a yawn to topple a Donphan. Afterwards she set about preparing for the day.

First she slipped out her her pajamas, the exposure of skin left goose bumps all over her body. Quickly as she could now, Conelle slipped into jeans and a long sleeved shirt. It was green like her eyes. Next on her list was fixing the tangled mess of her hair, which always got like this if she didn't do something with it the night before. Unfortunately for her, though, she had been in a hurry to get to sleep and avoid the storm. Which was why her hair was so messy.

Fixing her mop, and then taming it took another thirty minutes. Once that endeavor was finished, she slipped her feet into a pair of boots and packed her bag. Once out side, Conelle set about dismantling her tent in a fashion that made it seem like she had done it many times. She dreaded having to handle the wet tent. The water soaking the shell of the tent dribbled all over her making it a very uncomfortable experience.

With packing finally up and finished, Conelle set out walking through the forest. The whole forest seemed refreshed after the storm hit, but she certainly wasn't. There was the sound of bug Pokemon buzzing about in the trees. Soft rustles in the brush could also be heard, but Conelle was not one to deal with wild Pokemon unless she had to. She had yet to catch single new Pokemon since her journey started and still had just her starting Pokemon. This would be a bit of a depressing thing for many trainers, but Conelle wasn't out to be the very best, she was on the journey to discover herself, and what she wanted to do with her life. There was no better way to decide than to travel as a trainer, which is what she was doing.

Conelle spent the next hour trying to find the path back to civilization. In her panic to avoid the storm she had left the trail and gone out on her own into the forest of trees, and grass as tall as her. She had not a single idea as to where she was and her map was of no help, considering it just showed her general location. This was a cheap way for the league to make money, because they gave everyone a map of the region but it was not specific. If someone wanted to know more about the area they would have to buy a map of that particular part of the region.

Suddenly Conelle could hear the endangered cry of a Pokemon in the great distance of the forest. It sounded as if it were in great distress, so Conelle sprinted. Soon after taking off, she could here the sound getting closer. As she ran, she did her best to avoid the deep puddles of mud and water, as well as getting slapped in the face by a tree. Before too long she came upon a sheltered clearing were she assumed the sound of the distressed Pokemon was coming from. Immediately she slowed her pace to a crawl, and stealthily crept forward.

On the edge of the clearing, pressed up against a tree was the Pokemon in distress. The little Espurr cowered in fear and pain. A Honedge floated over it, poised to strike the finishing blow.

Conelle intervened in the quickest way she knew how. That is- she distracted the Honedge.

"Hey! You there! The Pokemon who is also a sword. What do you think you are doing?" she exclaimed, yet in the flash of a second regretted her decision. The sword Pokemon turned on her. It's malevolent eye trained on her. It began to charge, or float, or whatever it is a Honedge does when it goes towards something at attack speed.

Conelle was quick to act out of fear for her life. She gasped and stepped back as fast as possible, until she fell her back against a tree. She was pinned in between a rock and a dangerous Pokemon. There was only one option left, considering that she could now no longer avoid fighting. She reached for her side, where a single filled poke ball sat on her belt. She pulled it up into her hands and pointed it at the Honedge. This did not deter him.

"Go Combee!" She clicked the small button on the poke ball and a bright flash of white light illuminated the clearing. Out of the white light materialized a Combee. This Combee was her first and only Pokemon, gifted to her as a child by her parents, who both ran the most successful honey business in Kalos. She was destined to become a queen for a hive one day. For now though, she was the precious Pokemon her parents gave her years ago and to this day is one of the only things she truly cared about.

As soon as the bee Pokemon was completely materialized it recognized the Honedge as a threat to it's trainer and immediately went into a defensive tactic. It hovered in front of Conelle, in between her and the Honedge. Just having the Pokemon out with her instilled some relief in Conelle, but now was the time for battle. There was one problem though. She did not know much about Honedge and had not realized that nothing her Combee threw at it would do much. In fact her prized Pokemon's bug bite did next to nothing to it.

Quickly her Combee was incapacitated by the powerful sword Pokemon. She screamed when she saw that her Pokemon was down and out, leaving her without any protection from the wildlife, even if she managed to escape from the Honedge. While her Combee had distracted the ghostly sword, she had inched away from the tree and now had room to escape. She called back her precious Pokemon and made a run for it into the grass. Conelle knew that she would not be able to outrun a Pokemon, especially when she had enraged it so.

She acted as fast as she could, pulling her bag off of her back and and digging around in one of the pockets until she felt what she was looking for. She pulled the object out and pressed the button enlarging it to full size. Then she span around to meet the Honedge- which she knew would be right behind her- and dropped her pack. Her predictions were correct, as the little monster was right there.

Conelle knew what she had to do and threw the pokeball. This was her only chance at freedom. She knew that if this pokeball failed then she would be destined to die, unless she managed to out run the Honedge and find a trainer. The chances of her finding another trainer out here, days from any civilization were, slim.

The ball began shaking and rolling around. It did a few hops and continued to shake and roll. The light on the small button was glowing a deep, blood red color. The color left Conelle's face, and she began to sweat. The Honedge struggled inside the ball for what seemed like hours until finally it made a beeping sound. The ball went still. To her it seemed like the whole of the forest was silent.

Conelle let out a heavy breath, laden with her fears. She sunk down onto the ground to catch her breath from the Olympic race she had just run in order to escape the wrath of the Honedge. When she recovered enough energy, she cried.

 **Two days later inside the Pokemon center. Camphrier town.**

"Could you heal my Pokemon? They could use a bit of recovery," Conelle said shakily. The experience she had had, had shaken her to her core. It was also a big wake up call for her. She now had the knowledge that she was going to need more Pokemon in order to stay safe and out of harm's way.

"Yes of course, all you need to do is scan your trainer card right here," the nurse indicated to a small slot with a laser inside, "then you will be all set for the recovery process." Conelle did just that, and a small beep sounded indicating that her card was read.

"Thank you for visiting the Pokemon center here in town, your Pokemon will be healed and ready for travel in less than an hour," the nurse said.

Conelle just nodded and walked off towards the cafeteria that the Pokemon center had set up. Unlike the healing services of the center, the food was not free, but it was inexpensive and pretty good too. Definitely not of gourmet quality but still very good food. The league funded this as well. To an extent.

Inside the cafeteria there were a few other trainers sitting at tables and talking. Camphrier town was a small town, though, so there were not many of them. Conelle got into the small line for food with her tray. The center was serving a variety of foods, from all regions, so that no trainer from any background was left out.

Once she had piled her tray with assorted foods she payed for her evening meal and sat down at a corner table with a window. Outside was a bright sunset silhouetted over the forest she had survived in for nearly a week.

The meal was quite enjoyable for Conelle, with all the food she ate, she had spent the entire time her Pokemon were healing, eating. When she heard her name called over the intercom, she abandoned her meal to the trash can. She left the cafeteria and went up to the front desk, w(h)ere the nurse waited for her with two pokeballs.

Once again, Conelle was required to give her trainer ID as proof that the Pokemon were hers. After that, she checked into a room for the night. It was beginning to get dark out after all, and she wanted to get a fresh start tomorrow. The center didn't have an elevator, and she was given the keys to a room on the third floor.

 _This isn't going to be fun, I just ate a meal. And I feel like I overate._ Conelle thought. She held her hands against her stomach and grumbled. She had no idea how she was going to make it up the stairs with a full stomach. All she could do was endeavor to survive. She set out with the key to her room and slowly made her way towards the staircase.

At the stairs she slowly stepped upwards. Was she being melodramatic? Probably, but who actually cared. Conelle was just an anonymous teenager on a journey. Her journey so far was a dime a dozen. She wouldn't see any of these people again anyway. At the top of the staircase she sighed and went to her room. After struggling with the key card scanner, she opened the door to her room.

Inside her room was a bed and a bathroom with a shower. Pokemon centers were not designed for comfort or convenience. They were simply a place for trainers on their journey and Pokemon in need of help. Regardless, she needed a shower and planned to have it. Even if the center didn't have the absolute best quality conditions. There were no lavish beds and the bathroom had simple accommodations. The water was always warm, thanks to the advanced technology of the day.

She pulled bottles of shampoo and soap out of her bag and prepared for her shower. Once the water was steamy and good, she slipped out of her clothing and hopped in. The water's heat was amazing and soothing. Under the heat of the water her muscles relaxed and the soreness in her legs was relieved.

45 minutes of relaxing under the warm water later, Conelle came out of the bathroom in her undergarments and ready for sleep. She laid down on the bed and covered herself up, snuggling with the pillow and blankets provided by the center. Soon she drifted of into slumber ready for another day.

 **In the Morning**

Conelle was woken up by the alarm that she would later decide was to early of a time. Her first mistake on this day was slamming her fist down on the bedside table. For one, that was a painful choice and two, she just remembered now that the alarm she set was on her phone, not an alarm clock.

Immediately she attempted to get up to see if her phone was damaged by the beating. Third mistake for today. She fell out of the Pokemon center bed. The loud thunk could probably be heard on the floor below.

Worst of all, the alarm was still going off, because slamming her fist down onto her phone touch screen did not count as turning it off. The combination of buzzing and ringing was extremely annoying. Instead of being broken it had merely fallen of the table.

"Ugh dammit," she muttered, sitting up and holding her backside in pain. "I was not meant for this kind of abuse." She continued talking to herself.

She felt the need to shower again and later she was out of the shower and drying her hair off. She sat down on the bed and checked her phone to see an email. She let go of the towel allowing it to drape itself over her shoulders as she picked up the wireless device. After opening up her emailing app she read the email, which of course was from her mother, who knew what time she got up, and what time to contact her.

 _Hey I just wanted to say good morning to you. How did you sleep, I hope it was well. Make sure to email me back because I just wanted to check in on you before your day got hectic. Did anything happen since we last emailed? I hope nothing of a bad nature did anyway.  
Love you,  
xoxo Mom_

Conelle thought about what she was going to say for a few minutes while she got ready for her day. She finished drying her hair, brushed it out. Then she put on some traveling clothes before finally fitting her feet into some boots. After that she picked her phone back up and replied to her mother's message.

 _Hi Mom I'm doing fine. I made it to Camphrier town a few days ago and have been camping around in the forests nearby. Yesterday was my final day in the town and I'm moving on to the next city. I caught a Honedge 3 days ago, it was the first Pokemon I've ever caught. Other than getting stuck in the storm two days ago and battling a few trainers I haven't done much recently except hike around in the trees and tall grass.  
Love you too,  
Conelle._

With that out of the way Conelle stood up ready to eat some of the Pokemon center's amazing breakfast. It truly was a sight to behold. The only service the Pokemon center had that costed money was the meal portion. The Pokemon paid for all the medical care, and to anybody who stayed the night, (which many do), they got a free breakfast. the league apparently spared no expenses when feeding it's patrons in the morning, who always enjoy a hearty breakfast to prepare them for a day of traveling.

Down stairs and to the side of the lobby was the cafeteria for trainers. There was always a plethora of trainers and Pokemon dining on the breakfast before a day's travel. Many more than last night for dinner. The room was by no means full, but there was definitely more trainers in there than last evening during meal time.

Once she was out of line, Conelle made the decision to sit at the same table she had yesterday, which had a view from the window. On her tray was a variety of berries, and fruits, as well as a small stack of pancakes smothered in syrup and topped with whipped cream and a strawberry. The meal was delicious in all it's sugary goodness. Conelle made a point to use as much of the syrup as possible, so she ate her pancakes first. Then she dipped all of the fruits she had been served into the small puddle of syrup, slowly diminishing the syrup into her stomach with the fruit.

Halfway through her morning meal she was Interrupted. It was a boy, about her age, she surmised by his looks.

"Hello, would you mind if I sat here?" he said

"Not particularly," Conelle said, but before she could even finish he was in the seat opposite of her.

The teen took a sip from what looked like orange juice. "My name is Calem, it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Calem. My name's Conelle. Can I assume you are a trainer?" Conelle said.

"That I am. I don't see any other reason for me to be here in the Pokemon center unless I'm training Pokemon. You can't just use this place like a free hotel. You have to be a registered Pokemon trainer to use this facility, and that includes the meal. How long have you been a trainer, might I ask?"

" I haven't even been away from home for a month yet, if that answers your question."

"Yes well I've been out on my own now for nearly three months, and I already have my first badge," he pumped his fist in the air.

 _So he's going for the badges, eh. Well I suppose that most trainers are out for either the badges or the contests._ "Interesting. What Pokemon do you have? I have a Combee and I just recently caught a Honedge."

"After we are done with our meals I can show you, I need to let them out for a stretch anyway. I have a Frogadier, Pancham, and Espurr," Calem said.

Once their meals were over they left their trays at the trash with a small stack of other trays. Then Conelle left Calem and went to the bathroom to wash her hands and brush her teeth. Conelle truly had to give the janitors who cleaned the place up credit, because the bathrooms always looked immaculate.

Once her final task in the center was complete she checked out at the desk and left to the small yard outside, Calem close behind. Conelle needed to let her Pokemon have a good stretch before the day's travel just as Calem did. They both let out all of their Pokemon out in flashes of light. Materialized in front of them stood a Pancham, Frogadier, Espurr, and floating were Conelle's own Combee and Honedge. Once their Pokemon were free from the confines of their balls, the pair fed and watered them. Except for Honedge, who seemed to have a vendetta against all Espurr and had to be sent back into it's ball. He did not need to eat anyway.

After introductions were made Calem offered her a Pokemon battle, which she politely declined. He was courteous enough to not continue with his challenge, and pull the whole having to battle when challenged rule. It was a nice change from most trainers she had met. Once their little meeting was over, they left, going their separate yet similar ways. Both were heading in the same direction. West towards the next town, which, made it quite awkward for her. The awkwardness was increased as neither wanted to start another conversation up and they traveled in silence together.

They shared glances with each other, for what seemed like 20 minutes. Eventually, Calem broke the long and awkward silence. It seemed as if the silence was just as weird to him as it was to her.

"So... where do you come from?" he said. Conelle was relieved to be rid of the awkwardness of similar destinations.

"Uh, I lived in Santalune," Conelle said.

"That's nice. I myself come from Vaniville. It's a small, little town south of Santalune and through the woods. About a weeks journey from the city. I just moved into the small town, the professor of the region found out about how famous my mother was, and then sent me on a journey. I was only just getting used to my new home when he gave me a Pokemon and a pokedex, and how could I refuse? I mean, it's an honor and a privilege to be selected by a professor for adventure, and study." Calem said.

Conelle was surprised by that. It definitely was a privilege to be chosen by a professor to be their assistant in regional research. "I see. That is pretty cool. I'm just a honey farmer, whose parents thought needed to go on an adventure to discover who and what I want to be. Of course I was excited and so that's why I'm out here," she said.

"So your family is the reason that I get honey when ever I need it, eh?" Calem said, nudging her arm a little bit with his elbow.

"It would seem so."

They passed the day away with conversation. Calem was very enjoyable company, and quite a difference from her solo travel. She kind of liked the change. It was a new pace that made the day of walking seem more desirable.

Before she knew it, it was midday. The sun was high in the sky, and shining down on them. Then Calem stopped.

" I think that it's about time for lunch, what do you say?" he said. Calem walked off of the path and sat down in the grass.

"Oh gosh, I believe that I forgot to pack a lunch or buy something to eat." Conelle said more than a little bit flustered. _This is so embarrassing. I forgot to pack a lunch._

"Well that's okay. I packed two sandwiches. Normally I would eat both, but you can have one," he said. With that he opened up a small cooler on the side of his bag. Within, Conelle could see two sandwiches a bottle of water and some fruit.

He pulled out the first sandwich and offered it to her. Conelle accepted. Then Calem pulled his own sandwich out and the two began to have lunch. Considering that their meal was shared it did not last very long. Soon after their break began, it ended. She had devoured the small sandwich that Calem had given her, and that was all she got from him.

Conelle was still hungry, but she wasn't about to complain. Calem had fed her after all. The least she could do was not complain about her intense hunger at not eating much. Conelle was grateful for Calem's charity, but also felt a little awkwardness after the fact. Of course she didn't say anything.

They continued their walk along the path, which was slowly developing into shrubbery, the cobbled path had long since turned to dirt. Soon there would no longer be a path; just a trail. The sounds of Pokemon became more common place further away from Camphrier town.

Soon the pair were walking alongside a shimmering lake. There were many trainers like themselves out nearby the lake painting pictures of the nature. Eventually a large building came into view. It looked as if it were floating on the lake. Though Conelle could not tell yet whether or not it was bobbing in the gentle ripples of the lake or simply built with it's foundation in the mud.

"Hey Calem do you know what that building is?" Conelle said.

"Nope, I've lived here for less than a few months, and most of that was spent traveling," he said.

 _Strange. Why would a random building be in the middle of the route, hours of walking distance away from civilization?_ Conelle thought.

 **AN: free batch of cookies for the person who catches the reference.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I expected to get this second chapter out much earlier than this, but I managed.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

It turned out that the building they had seen in the near distance was not floating. When they approached the large and elaborate double doors of the mansion on the water, a man dressed in a tuxedo came out. He introduced the mansion as the Pokemon Battle Chateau.

"Well can we go in then?" Calem said.

"I'm afraid, sir and madam, that this facility is an exclusive club, only for those who get a recommendation from another member. Therefore, you will not be able to enter unless you are expected," the butler said.

The Battle Chateau was indeed a place for the rich and powerful. The doors were open and Conelle could glimpse people in fanciful clothing. There were women wearing striking make-up and silken dresses and skirts. A few men in sight had tuxedos and suits.

After the butler gave his apologies he began to close the large doors. Suddenly from within Conelle heard a shout.

"Hey. Wait! Nathen open the doors back up," Conelle could hear a feminine voice calling from within the chateau. Also apparently the butler's name was Nathen.

The sudden shout from inside the chateau gave Conelle a start. She looked over at Calem who looked surprised himself. His eyes went wider than normal, the blue hues looking much larger now.

"Nathen I know that boy. Give me a minute outside would you?" said the mystery voice.

"Of course madam. I am merely here to be a good servant to the members of the Chateau That is what I'm payed for after all." the butler said.

The doors were wide open again, and Conelle could see a women stepping through. She came down the steps to meet the pair of trainers. The woman approached Calem.

"Hello Calem. It's nice to see you again. How is your journey coming along?" the woman said.

"It's going very well, thank you very much. I've gotten much stronger since our last battle," he said in answer.

The woman sidled up next to Calem and held onto his arm."Dear you don't have to impress me. You are already a much stronger trainer than I." she was staring right into his eyes, her face close to his. Then she tucked a loose locke of hair behind her ear. Calem smiled back at her response, he didn't even look bothered by the close contact.

Conelle could see that the two obviously knew each other. They looked to be on very friendly terms by the tone of the woman's voice, as well as her proximity to him. Conelle hadn't taken Calem to be in a romantic relationship. He seemed far too innocent, but then again, what did she know about that kind of thing?

However, now that she looked a little bit more closely at the women she realized that she seemed familiar. There was something about her that had a familiar ring to it. Conelle just couldn't quite place it.

Calem then turned to Conelle, and with a flash of a pleading look, said, "this right here is my girlfriend, Conelle say hello."

She stared at him for a minute. Not so very sure as to what to do. Then finally, Conelle walked over Calem and grabbed a hold of his left hand, which was free of the other woman's grip. She mustered her best false glare towards the woman. It might have looked convincing, but she wasn't entirely sure.

"Hello my name is Conelle, may I have the pleasure of your name?" Conelle said. Inwardly she was continually stabbing herself in the chest for going along with Calem, but what else could she do? There was always the option of leaving him to suffer.

The woman looked taken aback by this new occurrence. "W-why my name is Viola. Nice to meet you." There was an embarrassed blush on her face now.

"Likewise," Conelle said, frowning at Viola. Now she knew were she had seen that woman before. Viola was the name of the Santalune city gym leader. She was a powerful trainer, being a gym leader, and it sounded as if Calem had beaten her in a league sanctioned battle. _So Calem has a badge? He doesn't look that strong._

"Well I was going to invite you both into the chateau, but I can see that you both are busy with your journey, and I wouldn't want to take time away from your life goals." Viola said, letting go of Calem and stepping back. She looked hurt, and frustrated, as if Conelle had just delivered a slap in the face, and she might as well have. "Au revior," Viola walked back up the stairs of the chateau and entered the mansion. The butler closed the door behind her and bowed to the pair.

Conelle scoffed, "What was that Calem?" she let go of his hand, and immediately moved away from him to make some distance.

"The embarrassment of being in a supposed relationship with you is nothing compared to dealing with her. Do you even realize that Viola is like four years older than me. I think it's illegal for her to even do that. You saved me from having to deal with her for the foreseeable future." Calem said. _The embarrassment of being with me? What?_

Conelle gave him a harsh look, "Whatever. Don't expect for me to cover for your ass again anytime soon. Lets just go before she comes back out. That act was mentally and physically exhausting." she said.

The day was beginning to wane. Conelle and Calem both continued to travel together. Through their shared experiences they seemed to be stuck together for the time being at least. The rest of the day passed without much consequence. In fact the walk for the rest of the day was almost boring for Conelle. She was refusing to talk to Calem, which didn't actually seem to bother him all that much. He looked as if he were now relishing in the silence that had- earlier in the day- been awkward.

The landscape did not change much either. The lake they walked along was a large one. The lakeside would be in view for at least another three days of walking. On the other side of the trail, was a field of flowers ranging in all colors, but yellow seemed the most prominent.

Soon the sun was setting, and Calem made the decision that they should camp. Conelle agreed with him, because she wanted time to prepare for her sleep. The pair walked off of the trail, closer to the lakeside, not so close as to be splashed, but close enough that Conelle could hear the gentle lapping of the waves in the mild wind.

They set about putting their tents together. Conelle had her little one person green tent, while Calem's tent was definitely large enough to allow spreading out. It was a deep black color. They set up their tents parallel to each other with space in between for a fire.

Calem dug a small fire starting kit out from his backpack and began preparing a small fire while Conelle lounged around. She had no idea what she was doing in this area of survival and decided to leave the fire to the man. He was engrossed in his work anyway. Any help she would try to give would be harm.

Conelle looked up at the late evening sky, which was beginning to turn dark. The sun was falling behind the horizon, illuminating the clouds in a beautiful manner. The clouds we layered with pink, purple, and orange. The colors rainbowed out from the setting ball of fire.

Soon Calem had a nice, warm fire burning. The warmth chased away the awakening chill promised by night. Long flickering shadows traveled around the small clearing they had cleared and shaped with the placement of their tents.

Finally Conelle broke her long silence between her and Calem. Calem had since spoken but Conelle did her best to ignore him.

"So, what are your plans for the future?" Conelle said.

"Well besides the research I'm obligated to do for Professor Sycamore, I fully intend to be the Kalos league champion. In order to do that I have to beat all the gym leaders. My journey to become champion fills the Pokemon research need as well. I will encounter many Pokemon in my travels, and possibly even discover new species." Calem said, as he poked at the fire with a stick. His jabbing at the fire caused small embers to float into the air.

Calem looked up from his fire and looked right into Conelle's eyes. " I know that my dreams seem big, but I know I can do it. It may just be my ego getting ahead of my actual ability, but I feel like my chances are high."

Conelle nodded, "Well it's always good to aim high. Even of you don't become champion, following your dream will take you to high places." she suddenly stared at Calem, "Calem, what are we going to do about food?"

"Don't worry, there is a small store set up a few hours away from here. It was on the map you can buy of the area," he said matter of factly.

"Well that doesn't help me now!" Conelle mumbled.

Needless to say, the two went without food for the night. They sat around Calem's campfire for awhile before Conelle retired to her tent to sleep. She had been forcing herself awake because she really did not feel like sleeping. Soon, however, she was no longer able to stay awake.

Conelle did not know how long Calem stayed awake, but he seemed like the kind of person to stay up late and feel fully refreshed in the morning.

Once inside the privacy of her tent, Conelle undressed herself down to her undergarments before unrolling her sleeping bag and slipping inside. Soon, any trace of chill left her body as the sleeping bag did it's job, and kept her warm. The lull of the lake's waves, combined with the light and occasional crackling of the fire sent her to sleep.

 **Later in the morning**

Conelle and Calem were walking down the grassy trail, towards the cave that would lead to Ambrette town. She was holding onto her stomach for dear life and moaning. _I'm so hungry._ Conelle was far too stubborn to say anything anyway. She didn't think she would need to complain to Calem about what was wrong. He could probably tell what she was thinking at the moment anyway.

Soon they saw a pair of figures walking along they path. A rather large young man, though not terribly over weight, was a good size. Next to him stood a short boy at least half his size. The small one was- from what she could see- on a pokedex as they walked, his head buried in the research information included on the advanced machine.

Calem sped up his steps and looked like he was in pursuit of the pair of odd boys.

"Hey what are you doing?" Conelle said.

"I know those people, their friends from Aquacorde town, which is just an hour or two's walk from Vaniville," he said in response.

Conelle caught up to him and then matched his pace. Soon they were gaining on the pair of boys, who were still oblivious too their advances. They didn't, in fact notice Conelle and Calem until Calem wrapped both in his arms and shouted.

"Boo!"

They both jumped and shouted, turning on their heels in surprise. Calem let go so he wasn't drug around. The looks on their faces were full of surprise, but quickly melted away to warm and welcoming friendship.

"Gosh Calem, you nearly gave me a heart attack. What possessed you to do that?" the small boy said.

"Nothing," he said simply. _What kind of answer is that?_

"Enough of that, we're going to get back at you in the form of battle. Trevor and I will take you on. If we win we will forgive you, also, if we lose we will forgive you," the larger boy said, smiling.

"Uuh fine, I'll battle, it's against rules to deny battle to a challenger anyway. I have my own condition though. It will be a double battle, me and my friend Conelle here versus you, Tierno, and Trevor." Calem said exasperatedly.

"Deal!" Tierno said excitedly, "that sounds like a whole bunch of more fun than just me and Trevs beating you to a pulp."

"Well I don't know about getting beaten to a pulp but it sure would be an unfair battle," Calem said.

"Wait, what kind of person do you take me for? I'm not that much of a good trainer. Don't drag me into your petty fights Calem." Conelle said, but the battle had already begun.

Tierno, who Conelle recognized as the larger one, made the first move. He sent out a corphish, a lobster like Pokemon. It looked quite threatening. Following Tierno's move, the other three trainers in the battle sent out their Pokemon. Calem's first choice was his Pancham, which appeared in a flash of light, ready to tussle. Trevor sent out his flabébé.

Conelle was still very confused and had to be urged on by Calem into sending out her Pokemon. Eventually she did, calling upon the power of her Combee. The bee Pokemon flashed out ready for whatever her trainer called on her for, which in this case, was battle.

Calem made the opening move. He was the first to act. It was not necessarily because he was decidedly the first to go, but he started the match before anyone else could. It was a good strategy, starting off unexpectedly to gain the advantage.

"Pancham use low kick. Hit the corphish for all it's worth!"

Calem's panda Pokemon lept into action, sweeping forward towards corphish. The speeding Pokemon was nearing on succeeding.

"Uuh- Quick flabébé intercept Pancham's attack with vine whip. Stop him in his tracks!" Trevor jumped in to aid his partner for the battle.

With a cry flabébé sent out powerful plant vines to stop Pancham. The vines snapped around Pancham's leg and drug him to the ground, ending his attack, and saving Tierno's corphish. As quickly as it attacked, flabébé's vines retracted, leaving Calem's Pokemon on the ground.

Tierno acted, "corphish, swords dance and then use crab hammer!" corphish began to dance around in a small circle, then suddenly stopped. It charged blue energy into it's right claw and skittered towards Pancham. Conelle could hear the small noises that corphish made as it charged at Pancham.

"Get up and out of there Pancham!" Calem commanded. "Conelle, get Combee in there."

"O-okay. Combee, hold corphish back while Pancham escapes! Gust!" Conelle said, shouting. Combee obeyed and began to beat it's wings in a furious way. While the buzz of the wings was normally quiet until up close, Conelle could hear it as her Pokemon worked to create a powerful wind current to hold corphish back.

The gust did work and Pancham had enough time to escape. Corphish was blown over onto it's side were it was stuck. This was quite the predicament for Tierno. His corphish was virtually defenseless.

Once Tierno's only Pokemon was out of commission, and quickly disposed of by Calem's Pokemon, the battle went much more smoothly. Even though Conelle was of little help, more of a support role in the battle, they still did well. Pancham, being weak to the fairy type, was knocked unconscious by Trevor's flabébé. It was all over once his Frogadier came onto the scene.

"Frogadier use pound on the flabébé!" Calem said. Immediately his Pokemon obeyed and jumped into action. The pound attack alone sent Trevor's Pokemon into unconscious.

Trevor sent out his final Pokemon, pikachu. "pikachu use thundershock!" Trevor said.

Pikachu charged a bolt of electricity and fire at calem's Frogadier. The attack knocked Frogadier off of it's feet.

"Get up Frogadier I know you have more than that in you. Use water pulse!" Calem shouted. Frogadier obliged.

The battle did not last much longer, and Conelle did not do much else. Her only great contributing factor was stopping corphish. She did not know how much of an impact her help had had in the battle, but that didn't matter. There was fun to be had in it and she was pretty sure that was the reason why they battled.

"Nice battle," Calem said, "you guys have improved since last time. Sorry about taking you out so early on in the battle Tierno."

"No need to worry. I got to see the awesome choreography of the battle without having to focus on the battling aspect of battle." Tierno said, smiling.

Conelle turned to Calem, "why did you make me do that? You could have handled that just fine on your own, I literally did one single thing."

"Well I had to make the battling odds even, and I couldn't have won the battle all alone. Corphish would have destroyed my whole team if you hadn't knocked him over."

Conelle just humphed.

They left Tierno and Trevor, going their separate ways. It was not long now that they would come upon the pass that led to Ambrette town. All that was left before a small caving adventure was to climb a steep hill, a steep hill that was painfully long.

Conelle look up and could barely see the top of what she now categorized as a mountain. Up on the top she could see the figures of a few trees. They looked to be very far away. So far, almost, to not be worth such a hike.

"Hey Conelle stop staring at the top of the hill. Let's just climb it and get it over with. I want to be on the other side of the cave before nightfall, which is just a few hours away you know. I don't know about you but I would rather not have to tangle with the thousands of Zubat that are awake at night."

"Uh okay. I guess you have a point." Conelle said quietly.

They made the ascent to the top of the mountain. The journey to the top left Conelle exhausted. She was gasping before they were even half of the way to the top. Calem on the other hand seemed to be just fine. Not even effected in the slightest by the exertion.

"Are you okay Conelle? You don't look so hot right about now..."

"Does it look like I'm fine? I'm dying here, while you're over" *gasp ***** "there all fine and dandy like this climb is nothing but a joke."

Calem stopped his climb to look over at the struggling Conelle. "Well if you need to rest, just say it and we can stop here for the night, and not get any more traveling done, and have to finish this hill in the morning."

"No no, I would rather complete the pain right now rather than spread it out in slightly less lethal doses." she gasped out, before sucking in more of the necessary air.

They continued to trudge on, but the longer they walked the further from the top of the mountain she was, the further it looked like they had to go. Soon she gave in and sat herself down. Less of any kind of graceful thing and more like she just plopped down like she had fallen.

"No I can't do it. It's too much for my poor little body to handle. Calem you have been on your journey for nearly two months longer than I. Of course you have much more endurance." Conelle said, crying out in despair.

"Don't you think that you are being a bit melodramatic? This is a bit much even if you are sore and tired. I'm pretty worn out myself," Calem said, frowning down at the prone Conelle.

Conelle just continued to be stubborn and lied on the ground. Quickly she hatched a devious plan as she lay in the fetal position on the ground. It was a truly evil creation, but she knew it would work. Conelle smiled.

She got up ignoring the soreness she felt and turned to Calem. Before she actually committed the act she thought about what she was about to do. _What if this makes another awkward and embarrassing situation? I don't need another one of those with Calem. Twice is plenty enough and I shouldn't have even had one. Well here it goes._

"Calem, catch me!" She said.

"Huh?" he had been turned with his back facing Conelle, now he turned around. What he saw was a girl charging him.

Conelle jumped forward right at Calem. He reacted quickly catching Conelle in his arms. She had jumped in a way to land in his arms bridal style. The contact of her body forced him to bend his legs to take the impact.

"What the heck are you doing Conelle?" Calem said, shouting in surprise.

"Well I decided that because you wanted to continue on and into the cave, I came up with a solution. Because I want to rest you can carry me, and we both get what we want, except you have to work harder." Conelle smiled, and laughed.

Calem just sighed. Then, he re-began the trudge up the mountain. Conelle was snuggled up in his arms, which was making the climb a great deal more difficult for him. Calem was beginning to sweat just a little. It was enough to be noticeable, if Conelle was paying attention, which she wasn't.

Soon Conelle drifted into sleep in his arms. She couldn't help but to lose consciousness. His body was so very warm and cozy. She slept for the rest of the trip up.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Story Time! Okay so my original plan for this story was to have the story told from both the perspectives of Serena and an Espurr. Originally Conelle was Serena but I somehow ended up changing the names around. Then I ended up changing Conelle's backstory so I couldn't even say that I just re-named Serena. Tragic I know, because Kalosshipping is my OTP for life. Then the whole Espurr thing was taken out of the story completely. If y'all are interested in me writing a little bit of a pilot for the origin of this particular story, just shoot me a PM and I'll see if I can't whip a little something up for you guys.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. I do own myself though.**

She definitely experienced a rude awakening. It was also pretty painful. She was awoken when Calem dropped her in the dirt outside of the cave.

"Ow, hey what was that for? I could have been killed," Conelle said groggily. She wasn't entirely awake yet and wouldn't be for some time.

"You should be grateful that I even did it at all. It's not like I couldn't have just dropped you when you jumped in my arms, because I know you would have gotten up and kept walking with me if I hadn't carried you. I'm just glad that there was nobody around to see that," Calem said.

Conelle slowly got up and began to dust her clothes off. She started down near he feet and worked her way up her body, swiping away the dirt and picking off the leaves. Once she was done with that she adjusted her shirt and fixed her hat. Then she placed her hair back in it's proper place, fixing it behind her ears.

"Okay lets go. I want to get this thing over and done with." Conelle said.

The pair started off towards the cave, which was not very far off, just a few minutes walk away from their current position. Up here Conelle could hear the wind much heavier in the trees. It was probably due to the higher elevation, they were getting ready to enter a mountain cave of course.

Conelle could not see a single thing within the dark depths of the cavern. She suddenly realized that they would have to transverse this dark place. Very soon her fears were alleviated. Calem stopped and pulled his backpack off of himself. He dug around in it for a minute until he found what he was looking for. Much to Conelle's surprise he pulled a torch out of his bag.

"Alrighty here is our source of light. If it goes out we will probably die." Calem said snickering a little. Then he pulled a match box out of his pack as well and lit the torch.

"If you don't m-mind me asking. Why did you bring a torch instead of a lantern? Aren't lanterns much safer than that fire." Conelle said, shaking a little bit.

"Well you see, fire is so much more fun than the electric lamps we have these days. I feel like using a torch makes the whole experience much more authentic." he replied smiling. "Besides, it was all that they had in the market."

Calem stood back and lifted his burning torch with him. The fire on it was not too large, and didn't provide much heat, but would be a great relief from the otherwise total darkness of the cave. The small crackling flame of the torch seemed fragile, but would hold out with enough strength for hours of burning.

After Calem put his backpack on, they stepped into the dark depths of the cave. Once the mouth fully engulfed them, there was silence, so sudden it was heavy. The stone blocked out the sounds of nature from outside. There was only the faint sound of water dripping from somewhere deeper into the blackness.

Soon, it felt as if Conelle was not able to get enough air. She began to take breaths much deeper than before in an attempt to get enough oxygen. The cave felt like it was sucking all the energy out of her. Conelle stubbornly ignored her anxious feelings. She was well aware of her phobias, and knew that this was among the worst of them. If she could concentrate the feeling would pass, if only temporarily.

Conelle trudged on, doing her best to ignore the fear rising inside of her. She followed close behind Calem and looked about for anything hidden and dangerous. There, of course, was nothing except the Zubat hanging from the ceiling, asleep.

The Zubat are nocturnal Pokemon, which is why Calem had a sound plan in attempting to get through the cave before sunset. As soon as the sun was gone, these little beasts would go into a dangerous hunting mode and attack everything on sound. Also, too much noise would awaken the swarm of the Pokemon.

The entire march through the tunnel was a struggle for Conelle. A power struggle between fight, or flight. Unfortunately for her, though, flight wasn't an option. There was nowhere to go, and if she started to panic it would cause quite a bit of trouble for Calem. Conelle knew that Calem didn't have to be here with her. In fact, she was probably slowing down his journey considerably. She didn't even know at all why they were still traveling together.

 _Perhaps he feels sorry for me. Or maybe he is feeling some kind of honor bound compulsion to travel with me now._ There was no way of knowing except to ask.

"H-hey Calem," he turned to look at Conelle expectantly, "I was wondering... why are you still traveling with me. Isn't traveling with a person like me slowing you and your journey down?" Conelle said.

"Well I don't know about slowing down my journey, considering that I intend to take my time and see the sights this world has to offer, but I think the reason we are still together is a circumstance thing, you know?" Calem said, responding.

Conelle gave him a shaky smile, "Well I suppose, since there is only one way to circle this part of the region, we are kind of stuck together unless something happens to pull us apart," she said.

Calem nodded, continuing on into the deep and dark tunnel. Without the distraction of Calem and a conversation, Conelle began to feel the pressure of the dark atmosphere yet again. It came from whatever dark hole it spawned in and hit her with a hammer. She seized up for a moment, taking as deep a breath as her fear would allow, which in the suffocating darkness was not much. Quickly, Conelle was back to follow just beside Calem, somewhat behind him, and he seemed not to notice her seize.

Conelle spent the rest of the evening following her companion through the tunnel, which was much longer than it actually seemed. For the most part it was a pretty straight shot all the way from one end of the tunnel to the other. There were a few twists and turns but the way to Ambrette town's cliff side had no diverging paths to take.

Calem checked his map of the local area, which included in great detail information about the tunnel. The paper crinkled when he pulled it out of the side pocket of his pack, and crinkled again as he unrolled the colored piece of paper from it's rolled up prison.

"According to the map we are just a little bit past the half way point. As long as we keep up the pace and don't have any accidents, or incidents of me carrying you we should be just fine," Calem said, with confidence abound in his voice. That was just fine by her though. Conelle was ready to get out of there and the sooner, the better.

They carried on in the darkness. Everything was black save for the what the light from the torch touched. Minutes later was when it all went wrong for Conelle. A sudden and loud sound crashed through the stone walls, and dark air. It reverberated through ever fiber of Conelle's being, terrifying her.

Her scream gave Calem pause, bet then again, when someone who was right next to them screams, who wouldn't have their attention stolen.

Conelle fell to her knees, broken. Her hands where on her head as she began to sob. She was on the ground of the tunnel, tears in her eyes and hiccups in her breath. Every time she took air into her lungs she hiccuped uncontrollably.

The sudden sound from what was likely a Pokemon, was what made her lose her self control. Up until this point she cut off the chocking emotions of fear, but Conelle had been pushed over the edge.

"H-hey Conelle what's wrong? Are you alright?" Calem slouched over her, unsure of whether or not to wrap himself around her in comfort or not. He eventually decided on an in-between. Calem put his hands on opposite shoulders in a comforting gesture.

Conelle could feel Calem gripping her shoulders in a strong and gentle way, but kept sobbing. She was unable to stem the flow of tears and hiccup gasps. The pressure of being in the dark tunnel was far too much for her to bear. Calem was just there to provide reassurance and gentle shushes.

A few minutes and calming motions from Calem later, Conelle sat on her legs with puffy eyes. She had been able to stop the tears, but the hiccuping had yet to cease. The muscles controlling her lungs continued to stubbornly hold control of her breathing.

In the flickering light of the torch that Calem had elected to bring, and through her own spasmodic breaths, she could make out Calem's face. The sturdy features of his face along with the smile he bore as she looked at him helped to calm her panic even further. The soothing curve of his lips put her at ease.

"There now Conelle. Are you okay? You scared me back there." Calem said, moving back a little bit to give Conelle space. He took his hands off of her shoulders.

Conelle continued to look into his eyes and sniffled. She rubbed her nose in order to help clear it just a little bit.

"Y-yes I-i-i-i think I'm fine now." she stuttered, looking away with the beginnings of a blush creeping up into her face. _Why did I have to have a panic attack right now? It's unfair that I'm so unstable._

Calem offered her his hand, "Well allow me to help you up then. If something is bothering you please tell me okay?" Conelle accepted his small gift and placed her small framed hand into his much larger, and warm one. Calem pulled her up, and in doing so lessened the distance between them to mere millimeters.

It was in this time that Conelle fully began to realize the difference in size between him and her. The man standing so close to her was much taller, and much bulkier than her. Not an overweight kind of bulky, but the kind that his body was built to be. He was tall and had shoulders clearly much broader than hers.

Conelle reached just below his shoulder. All she could see was his chest, which she was so close to. Calem moved to create a more comfortable and platonic distance between them. Conelle didn't understand why though.

"Well I think we should head on and get out of this blasted place before night. I don't know about you but the Zubat could be awake even now, and I don't want to have to deal with a swarm right now." he said, looking onward into the tunnel.

However, and unfortunately for them, Conelle's cries had disturbed the Zubat living in the tunnel. They just were not aware, considering that the Pokemon were silent and their echolocation abilities were silent to the human ear.

The bat Pokemon gathered a small distance from Conelle and Calem, closer to the exit of the cave. The disturbed Pokemon were in a rage, and looking for something to blame for the cause of their awakening. The creatures found just what they were looking for.

Up ahead Conelle saw a mass of bodies beginning to gather in a clump, coating the walls, floor, and roof of the cave. The air was chocked thick with them.

Calem saw the approaching gathering of Pokemon and reacted quickly. "Run! It's the Zubat! Conelle run away!" he grabbed onto Conelle's wrist and pulled her away, back towards the entrance to the tunnel, which was over an hour's walk from there. "We have to find a small side path to shelter in because we can't beat them, and we can't out run them for very long."

Calem sprinted down the path back towards the direction they came from. The death grip he now had on Conelle's wrist was painful but she didn't complain. Soon Conelle was exhausted from attempting to outrun the enraged Pokemon. She seemed to be making a lot of them angry these days.

Just as Conelle was beginning to feel faint from the exertion, Calem pulled to the side, dragging her with him and away from the hoard. While Conelle knew that the Zubat could still hear them, the shelter helped with protecting them from the small and deadly little Pokemon.

Once they were safely inside the small dent in the stone wall, Calem grabbed onto Conelle's shoulders and stepped backwards slowly into the small side passage. That was when things went from bad to much, much worse.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Conelle came back into the world of consciousness. The first think that came was her sense of hearing. The sound of water dripping had intensified from much earlier in the cave. The sound was right in her ear now. Next came her vision, it was blurry, or it would have been if there was any light to be had. It was pitch black wherever she was. The next feeling to come back to the world of the living was ironically, her feeling. Immediately Conelle wished for her feeling to go away. Her entire left leg was in searing agony.

Conelle groaned in her pain, shifting to put as much of her leg into a comfortable position as possible. She was still to much asleep for full comprehension to dawn on what was happening, or even as to how painful her injury actually was. Not only was her leg radiating horrible pain but she was sore all over, she could feel that there where bruises.

Conelle shifted her right hand, on the uninjured side of her body, and felt something. It was the wet and clothyness of a shirt. She stretched her hand out more and felt another body like hers. The incapacitated body of Calem was sleeping next to her. She could feel his breathing in her hand, as she was resting it on his sternum. The rhythm of his breath and the pulse of his heart were steady, so she assumed that he wasn't in any kind of serious danger.

Conelle moved her hand so that it now rested on his shoulder. She shook him gently, unable to muster the energy to be violent. He did not respond so she added her voice into the matter.

"Calem," her voice was hoarse and scratchy, "Calem wake up before I wake you up." he shifted in his sleep shuffling a little bit and moaning.

Conelle shook him harder. As hard as she could muster in her small and injured body. The effort and movement was causing the pain in her leg to spike up. She winced. There was no way of telling exactly what was wrong with her at the moment, but she surmised that she had possibly broken something or twisted something. She didn't know and couldn't tell. Conelle had never experienced the breaking of a bone, or the twisting of a limb.

Her jostling of Calem seemed to do the trick, as he began to rouse from the dream world. He sat up quick as a Combee in danger. Conelle's hand fell off of his shoulder, abandoning the contact. While she could not see his facial expressions or body language, she had a pretty good guess as to what he was thinking right now.

"Conelle are you out there anywhere I can't see a damn thing" Calem said, very confused.

"I'm right next to you Calem. How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened." Conelle said in a concerned and questioning tone. She was just truly thankful that she wasn't alone in here right now, and that Calem was right there with her, stuck in the same situation.

"Thank Arceus. Yes I'm fine. A little bit sore and I think that I bruised my right shoulder, but otherwise I feel okay." he said. Conelle could her the rustling and sopping sound of him shifting about, getting a feel for his condition. "What about you Conelle? How are you?"

"Calem I think I broke my leg or something, but I don't know. It hurts to move it and, I'm feeling some pretty constant pain." Conelle grimaced at that, as a new wave of agony ripped it's way up her small body.

"Conelle you need to stay calm, okay? I'm going to have to check and make sure. I can't see but I think I can determine whether or not it is broken. Also if it is bleeding we need to bind it and stop the bleeding." Calem said as he sifted over to Conelle's side. "Where are you hurt?"

Conelle could fell his breath on her neck. The warm air sent shivers down her spine. Thankfully he wasn't able to see her.

"I-it's my l-left leg I think." She said, shivering. If there was light, Conelle would have seen Calem quirk his eyebrows high at her response.

Regardless, he crawled over to the other side of her body and she could feel his presence near her leg.

"Okay Conelle don't scream, and try to hold still while I check your leg." Calem said. Then he began, starting at her ankle. "Tell me if what I'm touching hurts okay?" he continued on slowly and gently moved his way up her leg. He gave light squeezes to her leg as he went. Once he reached near Conelle's knee she gasped in pain, and jumped just a little bit.

"Okay I think that you broke your knee, but I can't be one hundred percent on that one." he said sounding very calm. Calm to Conelle at least. On the inside he was probably freaking out even more than she was.

Gentle as he could, Calem felt around Conelle's knee. Although he was being gentle as possible the experience still left Conelle dizzy from the pain.

"So there isn't any blood. I suppose that's good. I won't have to bind it to stop the bleeding. I'm gonna have to get her out of here as soon as possible wherever here is..." Conelle could tell that Calem was just talking to himself now. He was rambling on in an almost inaudible mumble. The sound of the dripping water did not help either.

Calem's backpack was still on his back, and now he pulled it off. Conelle could hear the straps of the bag sliding against his arm. Then came the sound of the backpack's zipper. Conelle could hear him rummaging through his bag in search of something. Soon Conelle could hear a small rattling noise. Like a child's racket, or a small maraca.

"Hah!" he suddenly exclaimed, making Conelle flinch in surprise. "I found them. The pain pills. The bottle wasn't crushed or anything either."

Calem jiggled the bottle of pills now. "Okay Conelle I'm the doctor now and I have some drugs for you. Hold out your hand," he said. If she could have seen in that moment she would have seen him smiling like an idiot.

Conelle reached her hand out groping the air for Calem's hand with the pill bottle. Instead she grabbed a hold of his face and immediately let go.

"Sorry!" she said. Then Conelle continued to search using what she knew of his location now to help her. Quickly their arms met and she took the bottle from him. In the darkness she unscrewed the bottle of pain medication and shook the bottle until two small pills fell into her empty hand. Then Conelle popped both of the little tablets into her mouth and swallowed before that horrible taste kicked in.

"Okay Conelle that should relieve some of the pain, but It won't kick in for a few minutes. In the mean time let's get you up so that we can find a way out." Calem said. Conelle could feel his hands reaching out, trying to find her hand again to take the bottle and help her up to her foot.

Conelle shivered at his touch, he had accidentally poked her in the abdomen, which was a very ticklish spot. Calem finally found her hand which he gripped and used his other hand to take the bottle away. She heard more rummaging around and the sound of his backpack slipping onto his back and shoulders. Then he tightened his grip around her hand.

While Conelle was chilled from the cold of the tunnel, Calem's hand was warm. Conelle felt the pulling pressure of Calem lifting her up. The second time in recent hours. Quickly Conelle felt her left arm slung around Calem's shoulders. She lifted her injured leg up and away from the ground. Away from the pain. Although it still hurt even if nothing was touching it, putting any kind of pressure on it whatsoever was agony.

"Okay Conelle, use me as a crutch, at least until we get out of here or find something you can use to replace me." Calem said. Conelle could feel that Calem had taken a step forward. Conelle hopped along next to him. Every step and hop they took was slow, as Calem was feeling around trying to find a wall to follow.

Apparently they were in a large and open space. It took nearly ten minutes of slow and careful steps to find a wall. Once they did though, their forward progress quickened. Conelle had no idea where they were. Also, she couldn't remember what had happened. Her memory extended as far as them creeping into the small side passage. Maybe she had hit her head.

"Hey C-calem do you remember what happened?" Conelle said questioning.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I do know that we fell. I think that maybe you hit your head. I can tell if you have a broken leg, but I don't know how to diagnose a concussion. Perhaps we are in a deeper part of the cave. Undiscovered." he said, "The map didn't say anything about a deeper portion."

 _Well that's just wonderful. We are lost, and nobody knows where to look in order to find us._

They continued on for hours. It seemed like the cave was endless. There was a constant dripping sound of the water. The sound was everywhere and surrounded Conelle. She was far to worried, and focused on the task at hand to be scared of the dark at the moment. Perhaps when she had some rest she would have the energy to be terrified. As of right that instant, though, she was tired, and in pain.

Conelle lost track of the time. The phone she had in her pocket was dead. The battery was completely drained. She was unable to tell if it was day or night outside. Inside the cave it was dark at all times, and Calem had lost their torch when they fell into the unknown portion of the cave. The only way they had any idea as to where they were was because Calem kept his hand on the wall the entire time.

Because of Conelle's injury the progress was much slower. She had to stay leaning on Calem with an arm wrapped around his shoulder at all times. As he stepped slowly, she hopped along. Doubtless, Calem was sore from holding most of her weight for hours. As well as the fact that he had to bend down constantly to stay at her height level, which was, of course, much shorter than him.

Soon Conelle began to have difficulty keeping awake and hopping. Calem also seemed to be sluggish, but it was hard to tell in the darkness. Apparently she was correct, because Calem stopped his progress, which forced Conelle to stop as well.

"I think that it's about time to stop. Time to stop for the day, or night, or whatever time it is right now. I'm pretty tired." Calem said, "I'm going to help you sit down, and then we are going to set up our sleeping bags." Then Calem slowly, and surely helped her into a sitting position. It was a painful experience for Conelle, but she gritted her teeth and lived through the pain.

Once Calem had set her down, he fell to his knees and began to set up his own bag. While he was preparing his sleeping bag, Conelle shook her pack off of her back, and began to unstrap her sleeping bag from the backpack. Then as she was sitting down she unrolled it. After that she realized her predicament.

"Uh, Calem do you think you could help me into my sleeping bag?" she said awkwardly.

"Sure just let me unzip the bag first," he said. Conelle could hear him shuffle over to her and then the sound of a zipper going all the way along her sleeping bag. Calem proceeded to lift Conelle into the sleeping bag, torso first.

He wrapped his arms under hers and shifted her into a sitting position in the soft and padded polymer that was the bag. Then Calem carefully slipped one of his arms under her thighs, and one below her knees under her calves. He then shifted her legs into the bag. Conelle gasped from the sudden pain, but it was over very quickly.

Conelle could hear the sound of her zipper being pulled up and had the feeling of the bag being enclosed over most of her body. Inside the bag Conelle was much warmer, especially since she was no longer directly on the cold stone floor.

Then Calem said, "goodnight Conelle." there was the sound of his own zipper being pulled open, then some shifting around. Finally Conelle heard another zipper being pulled up.

"Good night Calem."

 **AN: Yes another note from good ole' Flusion. you people as my readers need to give me a little bit of feedback on my writing. I don't truly care if you PM me or post a review, but I really want to know what some of you people are thinking about my story. If all you have to say to me is a hateful comment, then I accept that and will take your opinion to heart. Then I will silently cry myself to sleep that night. Really hope you enjoy my work.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: yeah another chapter out just less than a day from the other. I had a lot of free time and inspiration to write so it came out of me like pudding.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, just my single OC, Conelle.**

"Hey Conelle, it's time to wake up. I want to get out of here as soon as possible. I don't want to have to sleep in here again." there was a voice that interrupted her sleeping, and dreaming, bringing her back into the world of the awakened.

"What?" she slurred. Immediately Conelle was fully conscious of the pain in her leg, which brought her to full awareness. The pain made her gasp in surprise and confusion.

"Be careful, don't freak out. We're in the cave remember?" Calem said, attempting to help alleviate the disarray that comes with being half conscious. The cave and the darkness it brings was now apparent to Conelle, who had to control her rising panic. _Of all the irrational fears in the world, why did mine have to be this total dark and secluded kind of fear?_

Conelle sat up, taking her sleeping bag with her. Calem would have laughed if he could have seen her. She looked like a red Caterpie. Conelle shifted her arms in an attempted to unzip herself from the confines of the bag. Her efforts however, were in vain, as she could only unzip the bag a short way before she could no longer reach the zipper, and bending her body too much was painful in her state.

On the outside of the bag, Conelle could feel Calem's hand push against hers as he found the zipper. She felt cold air hit her left arm as Calem finished opening up her sleeping bag. Once free from the warmth of the bag, Conelle reached for her bag, feeling around until she felt the plastic thread of it.

Conelle opened up the bag and felt around inside for her hairbrush. Even if they were in a dangerous situation she didn't want to have hair so tangled that it needed to be cut off once she got out of the cave. When she found what she was looking for she gripped the handle and fulled it to the crown of her head. A soft sound of the brush's teeth against her scalp could be heard.

"What are you doing right now Conelle?" Calem said.

"I'm fixing my hair. I don't want any tangles or mats." Conelle said. She ran the brush down the length of her hair, hitting a small tangle, she forced the brush through the offending piece, straightening it out. The tugging sensation in her hair and on her head was a bit of a soothing and relaxing feeling.

"Right now? Your brushing your hair right now. In the cave. In the dark. You know we could die soon, and your caring about your appearance?" Calem said exasperatedly.

"Yes well I don't want my hair to be so messed up, wild, tangled, and matted that once we get out of here I have to cut it off. I rather enjoy my long hair, even if it takes a bit of extra work to keep in good order." Conelle said matter of factly. It was very much true that she had long hair. Her honey blonde hair fell down in rivers to nearly scrape her bottom. Not only did she have a lot of hair, but her hair was thick. It was probably one her most prized possessions and she would like to keep it that way.

"Yeah whatever. Just ask me when you would like some help out of that bag and onto your feet. I'm gonna clean up my stuff." he said. Conelle continued to brush out her hair. Calem impatiently waited for her to finish her task.

Once her toils where completed, she had Calem drag her out of the sleeping bag. Then she rolled it up and found the straps to put it back on her backpack. Finally she put her bag onto her back, and had Calem hoist her up.

So began another pain filled day of slow agonizing walking through the depths of the cave. The agony in her leg was the only thing keeping her sane at the moment. No doubt Calem was feeling some kind of discomfort. He had to bend down for hours at a time to support her, as well as the shoulder that held most of her weight, as insignificant as it was, was also his bruised shoulder.

It was not longer than an hour of slow and small steps, when there was a change in the atmosphere. The air seemed to steadily become fresher. This was a great relief from the stuffy, musty, and moldy air Conelle had been breathing in for the last twenty four hours. The air was also very humid, and Conelle had felt as if she was going to drown with the amount of the water about.

"Do you feel that? The air smells fresher! I think we are getting closer to an entrance!" Calem said, excited. He certainly was correct that the fresh air and slight breeze was a much welcome change.

As soon as he said that Calem tried to move faster. This was a problem for Conelle who could only move so fast while hopping. She was forced to keep up with him though. The extra jostling was causing even more pain for her now. Her hops were much larger, putting more weight on Calem as well. This was ultimately what made him stop.

"Oh right... I forgot you can't move so fast with that injury." Calem immediately slowed down his progress, allowing for Conelle to catch her breath and suppress the pain. It worked best for her if she forced herself to imagine the pain as only a feeling. Conelle was doing her best to muscle, and willpower her way through the injury.

Even if she could temporarily ignore the pain to an extent, it was always there. She knew it would take time for her injury to heal, especially if her knee was broken. While she didn't necessarily know how broken bones worked she knew that it would take time to heal. Perhaps even months.

Conelle took another deep breath, "I think I'm okay for now, we can move, but please keep it slow. I know that slow sucks, but the Shuckle pace we have been setting is about all I can handle. Also, I know that me leaning on you hurts because your shoulder is slow. Jostling it will only make it worse won't it?" Conelle said. In the dark she looked at where she thought his face was and smiled, even if he couldn't see the expression.

"Well I guess you're right, besides we don't have to worry so much any more. It seems like we are nearing to safety." Calem said. He was right too. Conelle knew that they were close to the outside now, but she didn't know how close to the inevitable freedom they were. She couldn't see still, which meant that they were still far enough away for the light to now reach them. It could be that they were just a few twist and turns away from being outside and in the sweet sunlight again.

They began their hobbling pace again. Conelle was right when it came to the twists and turns. Not very long after they started their painful and dark enclosed journey again, did they encounter a series of winding passages. In the dark it was hard to tell how many turns they had made, or how sharp the turns were.

Conelle began to hear the faint echoing song of the ocean's waves crashing against the beach and cliff side. The air gained a salty tang, and the humidity became somewhat clingy. Slowly the echoing roar of the ocean got louder.

Suddenly there was dim light to be seen. Conelle could barely make out, in shades of gray, Calem's silhouette. The darkness took on a shape. The craggy cave they were traversing was quite large, imposingly so.

"Do you see that too Calem?" Conelle said.

"What? Do you mean- do I see anything? Is that what you meant, because I'm getting some shadowy silhouettes and a pretty good image of the cave we're in." he said excitedly, with maybe a hint of sarcasm, and a dash of hope.

That was it. Her eyes were definitely not playing tricks on her. She really was seeing things. She was truly seeing thing, and everything got brighter by the minute as Calem stepped forward, and she hopped along beside him. Even if she was making an effort to ignore the pain, that didn't mean that it was gone. Even now in her excitement the feeling was still being marred by her agony that had steadily gotten worse over the last bit of a day or so that she had been with injury.

Suddenly though, her excitement was taken away from her. She gasped in surprise and shock. The small burning piece of kindling that was her hope of escape was severely tested. She looked up. At the source of the light and ocean sounds and smells. A large fissure was open to the sky. High in the ceiling was their hope, now diminished.

Although Conelle was deterred, Calem certainly didn't seem so. "HEY!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, facing the large crack in the ceiling. "Somebody help, or get help!"

Conelle knew now what he was doing. Even if they couldn't get out on their own, somebody could be able to hear them. If so, then a rescue team could be dispatched and they could be airlifted out of the cave.

With this realization Conelle began to shout out as well.

Just when it seemed as if nobody was going to answer their pleading calls, a shadow fell over their vision. Conelle looked up to see the figure of a person.

"Hello?" they called down, and instantly Conelle recognized the voice as that of a man. "How did you guys get down there?" he called.

Calem responded, "We fell down here, this is the first time we've seen light in over a day. Do you have access to a phone, because we need help. My friend here is injured from the fall and I think she could use medical help."

"Yeah hold on. I'll call 788 and see if I can get a rescue team out here. Just sit tight, and don't go anywhere you two will be safe in no time!" he said, shouting down at them. Conelle's hope was rekindled and she smiled. Tears were in her eyes, and fell down her cheeks, dripping off from her chin.

Calem noticed her tears and embraced her in his arms. The sudden action surprised a short squeak out of her. Calem's warm body seemed to surround her in itself. Conelle returned the action, wrapping her own arms around his body and burying her head in his chest.

Conelle cried herself out while they waited for rescue, wrapped up in Calem's body, and pressed against his chest. Calem stood there running his hands through her hair in a soothing manner. He rested his chin on her head.

Very soon Conelle could hear the roaring sound of a helicopter. She looked up from where she was wetting Calem's chest with her tears, now since dried out. The massive machine eclipsed the sunlight that was flowing into the cave through the large hole.

The rescue team lowered a gurney, with a man.

"Okay, so since the girl is the injured one here we will take her up first," the man shouted over the sound of the helicopter. Calem helped Conelle hop over to the gurney, and helped the rescue man set her in the gurney. Then he stepped back and allowed for her to be taken up and into the complete safety of the helicopter.

As the winch pulled her up into the day light she had to close her eyes. The sunlight was far to bright for her eyes, which had adjusted to the darkness of the cave. It was a peculiar feeling being airlifted in a gurney. Even though she knew that she was suspended in the air there was still a sensation of solid ground, Considering that she was being supported by ropes. As Conelle was pulled closer to the helicopter she was assaulted by the powerful tornado of wind pushing down at her from the powerful blades of the flying machine.

Once she was inside of the helicopter, the gurney man was lowered back down to retrieve Calem. A small group of what Conelle could only describe as doctors began to examine her body for damage. They started with her head and slowly worked their way down to her leg. They were completely silent as they worked. She wouldn't be able to hear them over the roar of the helicopter anyway.

It was painful for her, though, when they began to examine her knee, which she knew for sure at this point was broken. In the light of day she could see that it was very swollen and purple with bruises. Even if the doctors were trying to be gentle with their probing of her knee it still sent shock waves of pain all through her body.

Conelle just gritted her teeth and toughed her way though the agony. Meanwhile Calem was having his own thorough examination. The doctors spent most of their time focusing on his shoulder which was bruised.

It didn't take long for them to reach Cyllage City, which was the closest bit of civilization with a hospital. After they landed, Conelle was taken in on a gurney to an emergency room. She could see Calem walking and talking to one of the medical staff.

The white lights and cleanly, chemical smell of the hospital was what she was greeted with as she was wheeled through the halls. Once she was placed in a room, they helped her onto a table where she could be addressed and properly examined. The emergency personnel told her that a doctor would be in shortly to address her condition and give a diagnosis.

It truly was not long before she heard the steps and saw the white coat of the man who would be seeing her.

"Hello. My name is Dr. Lighter. I understand that you were emergency rescued from a cave. Can you tell me about what happened?" Dr. Lighter said. He had a small notepad and a pen with him. Probably for taking note on what she said, as well as for noting her condition. "First off, can I have your name so that I may contact your parents?"

"Y-yes. My name is Conelle Far. Now where to start? Hmm... I was with my traveling partner and we where going through connecting cave. A horde of Zubat attacked us, and we where forced to run. My partner, Calem, pulled me into a small side passage. From what he told me, we fell into the cavern where we were rescued. I could not remember falling, but I trust that that's what happened. I hurt my knee, as you can see, and had to use Calem for support as we tried to find an exit. I don't know how long we were down there, I think for just a day and a half, or so." Conelle stopped to take a few breaths. "We found the hole where we were rescued and the rest is history." she sighed.

Dr. Lighter took some notes down on his book. "Okay so from what the emergency personnel have told me, you exhibit signs of a concussion, and your kneecap is broken. We are going to have to take some X-rays to see how bad the damage is. Regardless of how much it is damaged, it's probably going to take six to eight weeks for you to heal completely." he said, continuing to write notes down onto his little notepad. "We'll get your parents called to inform them that you where injured, as well as rescued."

The doctor walked out of the room muttering to himself. Conelle just had to wait it out. Eventually a nurse came in to assist in taking her to get X-rays done. While the process was painful it was over and done with soon enough.

After the X-rays, Conelle was placed in another examination room where she waited for the doctor to arrive. Once again he showed up with his nose buried in something, this time it was a picture of her leg.

"Okay so we contacted your parents and it sounded like your mother was going to fly up here to Cyllage from Santalune. Another thing," he continued, "You are going to need surgery to correct your broken patella bone otherwise it will not heal properly. I want to get this surgery done as soon as possible, so that you can get on with your life and not have to worry about your knee. You may see lasting effects because of your injury, but a quick surgery should fix you up really quick. We have your parents' permission to execute a surgery, but we still need your consent to do it." Dr. Lighter said.

"W-well I've never experienced something like this before so I don't know..." Conelle said worriedly. "I guess that if getting it done sooner will be better for me then that's what I'll have to do."

Dr. Lighter nodded. He proceeded for the next few minutes to tell about the surgery, and how it worked. The kind of damages that her knee had taken, as well as discussions about therapy after her bone had healed completely.

Once he was finished with his speech and discussion, Dr. lighter excused himself to prepare some of the surgeons on staff for the procedure. In the meantime Calem decided to make a visit. The doctors had finished with him nearly an hour ago.

"How are you doing?" he asked, taking a seat next to her on the table.

"They are going to preform surgery on my kneecap to help set it. My mom gave the O.K., so they will perform the procedure as soon as possible, they're preparing for me right now."

"Good thing the Kalos region has free healthcare, eh?" he said nudging her arm with his elbow.

"Well I guess, but I'm more than a little bit terrified by the surgery." Conelle said, looking down at her swollen knee.

"Yes well this isn't a life threatening procedure, especially with the past few years of medical advancement." Calem said.

"Y-yeah whatever. Any way, how about you. what's up?" Conelle said

"Yeah my injuries didn't take long to inspect and prescribe. The doctors just said to limit the use of my arm connected to the shoulder injury. They just gave me some pain meds and I was on my way." Calem said with a shrug.

Well at least he was fine. Even if she was injured pretty badly, Calem was fine.

Then Calem stood up. "Well I'm gonna go and get something to eat, maybe shop for a few supplies. I'll see if I can't come and visit you again after the surgery. Can't leave my traveling partner hangin'" he winked as he walked out.

Not too long after Calem left, a nurse came in to escort her to a surgery room.

Conelle woke up in a hospital bed, the glaring white luminescent ceiling peeking down at her. She was in a bright blue gown, under the covers of sheer white sheets. After this initial observation, she came to notice that two people sat next to her bed. They were having a conversation.

"Hmm. I see. So you two met at the Pokemon center in Camphrier town." a familiar voice said.

"Yeah. Most of the tables in the cafeteria were full up so I asked to sit next to her. It was a pretty quick bonding experience I think." Calem was speaking, she thought.

"Yes well I know I've told you before, but thank you for being there for my daughter. You honestly probably don't know how much it means to me- oh hey I think she's awake!" Conelle definitely knew who that voice was now.

"How are you feeling sweety?"

"Hi Mom. I'm feeling okay, I think that they numbed me or something though, because my left leg feels pretty fat," Conelle said quietly.

Her mother giggled. "Yes well they did drug you so that did happen. They told me that the surgery was a success, which I'm happy to hear." Conelle's mother said.

"Yeah it's pretty good. The doctor said I would need I cast for a few weeks." Conelle said.

Conelle's mother, Janette was her name, stood and moved over to the bedside.

"Hon, I think you should fly back home with me so that I can take care of you while you recover." Janette said, taking one of Conelle's hands in her own two.

"I don't think so Mom. That would be the same thing as giving up on my journey, which I can't end now. I've already come so far, and seen so much."

"Well hon I can't leave your father alone for very long, and if you are going to be stubborn, I'm going to have to make this young man at least check up on you occasionally" she gestured to Calem, "You know how your dad gets. If I left him alone for too long he would burn down the farm, and get killed by his own Combee colony. He couldn't butter toast without stabbing something..." she said.

Conelle giggled just a little bit, "Well I guess that's true, but I can't expect Calem to hang around for six weeks to make sure I'm fine. We ended up traveling together, as well as stuck in that cave situation completely, and purely by accident and coincidence. There was only one road to get to the next town, and since Ambrette town was a destination, we ended up walking side by side." She finished on a serious note.

Calem spoke up now, " while I am on my own journey, for now I have plans to head over to Ambrette town to fulfill some research for the professor. Then I'm going to be training to fight the gym leader here in Cyllage, as well as study some of the wildlife in the area." Calem then turned to Janette, "While I will be gone for maybe a week in Ambrette town, I can check up on Conelle when I come back here to do the gym challenge, and research."

"Well Calem I don't know how to thank you for filling in for me," she said, eyes twinkling with thankfulness. She pulled Calem into a quick hug. "I'll have to go back home soon," she separated from Calem, "I've already been away for a few days, so I had better get back before your father kills himself."

"Wait," Conelle said, "how long was I out for?" she was thoroughly confused now.

Calem responded this time, "Well you see, you were pretty worn out from the little fiasco we had. The doctor said that it wasn't abnormal for you to sleep it off. Also, the anesthetic they gave you was pretty tough stuff, and probably contributed." he shrugged.

Just as Janette was leaving the room Dr. Lighter came in with a nurse

"It's good to see you awake and kicking. I think it's safe to put a cast on. You'll need it for a few weeks, so you're going to have to stay in town. I would like to check up on you every two weeks, so make sure to hang in there." the nurse behind Dr. Lighter approached and handed a pair of crutches to Calem.

"Here you go make sure you help her up. Doubtless she will be more than a little bit wobbly after just waking up. She needs to be getting used to using these though." the nurse said, she bowed slightly before backing up a bit.

Dr. Lighter continued, "Speaking of crutches, lets talk about long term muscle weakness. When you broke your knee you also tore the connecting muscles to the kneecap. Probably for years ahead in your life your left leg will be weak. You'll probably have to use a cane. Physical therapy can correct most of the damage, but you will still be a little weak and stiff. Even if you are a little bit weak, it shouldn't stop you from journeying. If anything, once your bone has completely healed, I would encourage you to travel. It would be a good way to build some muscle back into your leg. Now finally, I think you would like to know how to use crutches, I'm sure you've never had to use a pair before, or even seen someone else have to use them." Whenever the good doctor spoke he always had so much to say.

Conelle nodded. Then she pulled the sheet off from herself and sat up. Calem walked over to the side of the bed and helped her swing her legs over the side of the bed.

"Okay first off, crutches rest under your arms. Basically you use them to support your weight while you swing yourself forward." Calem demonstrated. He sat his arms on top of the crutches and lifted his left leg into the air. "Pretty sure it's a no-brainer, but you are going to want to lift your injured leg up off the ground." he then swung forward, placing his right foot on the ground and then brought the crutches forward and in front of himself.

He demonstrated it again a few more times until Conelle felt like she knew what to do.

"O-okay Calem. I think I know what I'm doing now. Just give me the crutches and help me up."she said nervously.

First, Calem adjusted the crutches to fit her much smaller size, then he came over to her and handed the crutches to her. Then he made sure that she had a good hold on them before putting is own hands under her arms to lift her up.

"Okay Conelle give it a try. I'll catch you if you screw up," he said it playfully with a smirk.

Conelle just glared at him defiantly. Calem put his hands on her waist to help balance her as she put the crutches under her arms. She gripped the handles which where in just the right place for her small hands to reach them.

Tentatively, Conelle took a small hop forward, then brought the crutches forward to support her self.

Calem gave her a thumbs up, "lookin' good soon you won't look really awkward, and stupid trying to move about." Conelle took her right hand off of the handle to punch him in the shoulder. Unfortunately for her, though, she dropped the crutch. Then she lost her balance and wobbled to the right. Quickly Calem moved to catch her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and stopped he movement. Then he sat her back down on the bed laughing.

"You probably shouldn't let go of your crutches I don't want you to fall and hurt yourself while I'm taking care of you. Wait to get hurt again after I'm not obligated to be your caretaker." he was still laughing even as he bent down and took the crutch into his hands, then handed it back to Conelle.

"Let's get you into a cast and discharge you from the hospital." Dr. Lighter said. Then he stepped out of the room and walked down the hallway, his nurse following him closely. Janette was gone by now, probably back to the honey farm to save her husband from himself.

Calem helped her back onto her foot and they followed, albeit slowly at first. Quickly Conelle grew accustomed to the crutches and their lurching gait, and was able to keep up a steady, if not wobbled, pace. They headed down the hallway behind Dr, Lighter, towards whatever room he had planned for her now.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Okay," Dr. Lighter said, "just bend your knee into a comfortable angle, because it's going to be in this cast for at least a month." Conelle did just that, bending her knee in a way so that while she walked it would definitely be suspended from the ground, as well as to be comfortable. Then the doctor got down to wrapping her leg up in baby soft cloth.

Layers and layers of it were added on. Then he set about putting the casted part of the cast on. The material for it was a nice bright and light red. He wrapped it all around where the cloth was. Then Dr. Lighter left to for some reason or another. He didn't leave without imputing his own words though.

"Make sure to keep your leg still while it dries. If you move too much we will have to cut the cast off and try again. I don't want to have to do that to you, because the only other wrap color we have on hand write now is an ugly poopy brown-green color." he chuckled as he walked out of the room. "Your boyfriend can keep you company while you wait for it to dry."

At this, Calem's face lit up with a crimson blush. _He probably can't find any words to respond to that._ He muttered something she couldn't quiet hear, but she didn't intrude.

"So your going to Ambrette town after this?" Conelle said cautiously. She wouldn't lie and say that she was not the least bit worried about being alone.

"Yeah it's about a day's walk from here and I probably won't be back for a week or so. The professor wants me to consult the researchers there about mega evolution."

"Mega evolution?" Conelle said, confused.

"Hmm... well it's like another form of evolution native to Kalos. Certain Pokemon are able to transcend the bonds of evolution to become a more powerful version of themselves temporarily. So far, nobody know the exact origins of this higher form the evolution, but all the professors agree that it is definitely a power to rival the legendary Pokemon themselves." He seemed to be completely enamored by the subject, she noted. It was the way his eyes twinkled as he talked about it.

Their conversation leaned toward mega evolution for the next while, as they waited for the good doctor to come in and give her the A.O.K. Apparently Professor Sycamore had devoted nearly his entire life to the study of the different kind of evolution.

Eventually, Dr. Lighter did come back. When he came back he came back with some of the most wonderful news she had ever heard in her entire life.

"You're free to go, but I expect to see you in a few weeks."

Gentlemanly as he was, Calem once again helped Conelle back onto her foot and supervised her as she hobbled along beside him with her crutches. Only having use of one leg was starting to take it's toll on her. Not a few minutes after they had checked out of the hospital did Conelle need to stop and rest again. It didn't help that the pain and soreness was beginning to seep it's way back from the deepest pits of the underworld that pain medications send it to.

Calem was patient with her in this moment, considering that she was injured and still quite new to the whole dependent thing. Already her loss of mobility was making her feel useless and frustrated. For most people, watching a small girl struggle about with crutches would fuel quite a large portion of pity. Conelle did her best to ignore such looks as she received from people as she hobbled by them on the sidewalk.

"Where are we going to anyway?" Conelle asked as she huffed alongside Calem.

"Well your mother payed for a hotel room for you to stay in while you recover. A Pokemon center will only admit you for two nights in a row at most. Besides it seems as if your family is pretty well off. Your mother seemed like she could afford it and then some." Calem said, as he dodged a person trying to walk on the sidewalk. The pair took up nearly the whole of the concrete pathway, considering how much space Conelle was consuming at the moment.

"Well it may be true I guess..." Conelle trailed off before continuing on, "My father owns the most influential honey farm in Kalos. In fact, the only one in the world that produces more than us is one in the Sinnoh region. He may not sound like it from what mom has said, but he is a good businessman."

"We all have our claim to fame I guess, or at least, notable parents." Calem said, "My mother was a Ryhorn racer. Pretty famous at that." he finished.

"Well how about that," Conelle said.

They were now at the entrance to the hotel Conelle's mother had picked out for them. While definitely not a five star luxury kind of place, it was pretty nice and well kept. They stepped inside, or hopped would be a better term for Conelle. Calem held the door as she awkwardly made her way through the doorway.

Inside, Calem approached the lady at the desk. "Excuse me but I believe I have a reservation for Conelle Far. Would you mind giving us a key and the room number."

"Hmm yes, a reservation was made earlier today for a miss Far. Would that be the lady you are escorting?" the desk woman said.

"Why it certainly is." He smiled at her now.

"Miss Far can I please of a bit of identification?" she said questioningly.

"Uh, hold on a minute. Calem were is my bag?"

"I didn't think to let you wear it so I have it on under my own backpack." he responded.

They began an awkward tango of removing the bag off of calem's back, and searching through it to find her trainer ID. It was made even worse because of Conelle's disability. Eventually though, Calem found her purse, buried in the deepest recesses of her backpack. It was covered with a plethora of cluttered objects. Clothing, pokeballs, an extra pair of shoes.

"Here it is ma'am." Calem produced Conelle's trainer ID card. The woman smiled in turn.

"Thank you. Here are your cards, the room number is 194 your stay is scheduled to be up in about six weeks. Have a nice day." The woman smiled again, as if staying in a hotel for six weeks was a completely normal thing to do.

Calem led the way to her room. It was at the far end of the hallway on the first floor, which was a nice thing for her, being on the first floor that is.

The hallway was decorated with nice lamps that illuminated the whole length of the hallway. The bright little lights gave off a nice homey feel, it was a nice relaxing feeling.

At the end of the hallway Calem inserted the key card into the hotel room door and listened for the lock to click free. Then he held the handle down and pushed into the room. Like the hallway outside, Conelle's room was decorated to give of a homely experience. Inside there was a table with a miniature refrigerator underneath it. On top sat a coffee machine and a microwave.

Farther into the room on the opposite wall was a queen size bed with bright white sheet. There was a mirror on the wall just outside the bathroom door. On the inside of the bathroom the floor was tiled white, it was simple with a sink, toilet, and shower tub.

Calem set Conelle's backpack down on the table, and set her purse down on the bedside table. Calem pulled his wallet out from his back pocket and selected a slip of paper from it, which he also sat down on her bedside table.

"Your mother told me you don't have a Holo Caster, and your in luck, because neither do I. This little slip of paper here has my number you can call or text if you need anything. If it is an emergency I'm sure I'll figure out how to get here soon enough." He smiled, "I think I'll just leave you here for now and head over to Ambrette town see yah later." At this, he walked out of the room.

Conelle was now very much relieved to be alone, yet frightened just a little bit all the same. She was all alone and injured to boot. Even if this was the truth of her life for the next six weeks, she was going to make the most of it. Before Conelle could begin doing that though, she needed to shower.

Dr. Lighter had given her a special sleeve to wear while in the shower, and if she had to go out in the rain. The first challenge she had was working her jeans off of her legs. It required quite the bit of struggle on her part to work the entire pant leg over the cast.

Every other part of her clothing came off of her relatively easy compared to her jeans. Once free of her clothing to used one of her crutches as support to trammel inside the bathroom. Once Conelle was inside the bathroom she realized she was lucky that nobody was there to watch her struggle with the shower. It took some time for her to figure out how it worked.

Once she did determined all the workings of the watery contraption though, it seemed quite simple. The water heater for the shower worked quickly and n less than a minute the water was at a scalding temperature. In the short time that she waited for the water to heat up, Conelle slipped the sleeve over her left leg until it covered the whole of the cast, as well as her foot.

Conelle was very thankful that inside the shower there was a small bar to act as a handle for her balance while she washed herself. While the wall would have worked fine for support, if she fell the wall would not save her. Yes the bar was much appreciated.

Once inside and under the heated water she instantly regretted not checking the temperature. It was far too hot and she let out a small squeak of pain, and hopped forward out of the offensive water. Next came Conelle's attempt to awkwardly monkey around the water, doing her best to avoid touching the scalding substance.

Eventually she succeeded in reaching for the small handle that controlled the water pressure and temperature. The gripped it and twisted the thing to the left allowing for immediate relief. Conelle turned the water down just enough for the heat to be bearable and sighed under the cascade of water. Even if she had to eventually get out, for now she would just let the water relax her body.

Conelle spent most of her time in the shower just standing there on one leg enjoying the waterfall of a massage to her shoulders and neck. After some time, Conelle worked up the courage to actually begin cleaning herself. With her hair, it made the whole shampoo and conditioning part much more time consuming, but she didn't complain.

Once out from the shower, Conelle put on a tank top, and a pair of shorts to relax the rest of the day away. All there was to do in her room was watch television or browse the wicked fast internet complementary with the hotel. She settled with watching the T.V. The first channel on the television was the local news, which much to her surprise was recapping the events of her rescue from the cave.

It was complete with some footage of her being air lifted into the helicopter. What Conelle saw in that video shocked her completely. She had figured that she probably looked pretty bad. _Did I seriously look that bad?_ Apparently she had.

Quickly Conelle grew bored of watching the news and weather. She flipped through the many channels available and settled to have a little bit of a background show play. The show she picked out to play in the background was none other than a childhood favorite. It depicted a group of teens, and their Absol, who went about solving paranormal mysteries. This had been her favorite thing to watch as a child, but now as someone nearing adulthood, she couldn't help but feel like Scoopy Boo, the Absol, was a bit melodramatic.

With that out of the way she pulled her phone off of the charger to browse the internet. Without much to do though, she grew bored of that too, and decided to bother Calem. She input his number into her contacts and started a text message.

 **Conelle: Hey this is Conelle how are you doing**

 **Calem: It's only been 2 hours why are you bothering me**

 **Conelle: I'm bored to death and you gave me your number. Its an emergency please entertain me :3**

 **Calem: if you are going to text me just to bother me then im going to ignore you.**

 **Conelle: but it is an emergency**

…. a few minutes pass by in which Conelle realizes that he isn't going to respond.

 **Conelle: hello?**

 **Conelle: Calem**

 **Conelle: hey**

 **Conelle: hey**

 **Conelle: hey**

 **Conelle: hey Calem**

 **Conelle: owjegowgowihiqsogf102348efhsdfvsiduhabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz**

 **Conelle: 12345678910**

 **Conelle: I know my ABC's and can count to 10 :)**

 **Calem: stop blowing up my phone with your constant messages :(**

 **Conelle: oh my gosh im going to make your phone explode? I didnt know that they did that**

 **Calem: please just stop it. Unless you have a legit conversation to start with me then I dont want to hear it**

Even though Calem couldn't see her, she crossed her arms and pouted.

Conelle sat her phone back down on the nightstand and fell into her bed. The plush softness of the queen sized bed caught her and embraced her like a mother to her child. _Being injured sucks. Especially when it's your leg and you can't go places very easily or convieniendly._

Conelle waited out the rest of her day in boredom. Eventually it was late enough for her to justify going to bed to herself.

It was another difficult morning. Conelle woke up and her knee was all sore and quite painful. Quickly she woke herself up and reached over to her purse, pulling a bottle of prescription strength pain killers out. She took one and swallowed it quickly to avoid the bad taste that accompanied many medicines.

Then Conelle set about her daily morning ritual. It was the same regardless of where she was, except the shower. She always showered in the morning if she could. It wasn't always an available luxury whilst traveling. Her long, thick river of hair was much easier to manage when it was soaked in water.

Once out of the shower, with her hair darkened by it's own dampness she wrapped a towel around herself, and then rubbed her hair mostly dry with another piece of cloth. Then Conelle set about the task of brushing her hair out. Once all of the nightly tangles were pulled out, she wrapped her hair in two separate ponytails using ribbons. Then, threw them over the front of her shoulders, covering a large portion of her chest.

With her hair completely settled out, she set about actually dressing herself. First came the undergarments, then a pair of short jean shorts, and a pink v-neck t-shirt with the works LOVE written on it. Quite stylish if she had to say.

To top of her outfit, she put a pair of socks and shoes on. With the final preparations complete, Conelle slipped her phone and key card into her purse and slung it over her shoulder opposite to her right hip.

Using her crutches for leverage, Conelle stood up and placed a crutch under each arm. Then she proceeded to make her way outside of the hotel. Her watch told her it was about 11:00. The perfect time to get down to the local park and let her Pokemon stretch themselves, not that her Honedge needed any stretching.

The park was not more than a few minutes of crutch-ing away from the hotel. The cool morning breeze welcome her with it's gentle embrace as soon as she made it outside of the hotel building.

When Conelle finally made it to the Pokemon park, she found a bench to sit at. The small wooden bench faced in a way to give her a gorgeous view of a fountain and some trees. Once Conelle took a rested position on the bench she pulled two shrunken pokeballs from her purse.

She threw both at the same time. "Come on out you two!" she said, watching the bright flashes of light as a pair of Pokemon materialized in front of her eyes. She had not heard the cries of her own Pokemon in many days. It was a very stress relieving thing.

Out of her purse Conelle produced a small bowl and a bag of food for her dear Combee. The little bee Pokemon went at it with great gusto. Just watching her little Combee enjoy itself was plenty to make her a happier person than a few minutes before. Her Honedge looked just as enthused as usual. Which was to say, not much at all.

Conelle enjoyed an hour or so of time with her Pokemon. The upbeat Combee and the stoic Honedge. Both Pokemon she loved, her Honedge was quickly making it's way to the top of her list of things she cared about. The list was rather small as it was, and the entrance exams for it were killer.

Conelle sat on the park bench in Cyllage city while she watched her Pokemon go about their own versions of frolicking and playing. Combee, being a bee, enjoyed the flowers and spent most if it's time buzzing near a patch of flowering plants. Honedge was another story entirely. He was the predatory type. Mostly silent, and patient to the extreme.

When Conelle decided she was hungry she pulled her pair of Pokemon's pokeballs back out from her purse. Once again they were shrunken to help reduce their size, but it did nothing for the weight.

Pokeball technology was an incredible, and relatively cheap piece of engineering. The mechanism that allowed for the ball to shrink in size did not reduce it's mass, though. Pokeballs where actually pretty heavy. Maybe about twice the weight of a baseball. When the ball was shrunken all it did was compress it's own mass, so it was smaller, but still just a weighty.

Conelle pressed the small button on the center of each ball. Immediately they expanded to be larger than her hand. She aimed them at her Pokemon and let the voice recognition system do it's job. This was yet another of the new technologies available for the pokeball. Nearly everything about the contraption was automated by voice. The only thing she had to do was press the button to make it shrink or grow, as well as throw the ball if she wanted to capture a new Pokemon.

"Return!" she commanded. The pokeballs in her hands activated and a beam of red light come from the center of each of the balls. The little lasers found their targets and absorbed their respective Pokemon back into the captivity of the technology.

With that done and over, Conelle shrunk the pokeballs again and returned them to their place in her bag. Then she slung the bag back over he shoulders as to make the strap diagonal from hip to shoulder.

With her purse secured, Conelle stood up using her crutches as a source of help. Then she put them under her arms and gripped the handles again. It was time for her to go find a nice little cafe to spend some time at.

Conelle anticipated visiting all of the cafes in Cyllage city during her stay. There wasn't much else to do in her injured state. She didn't have hours of school work to complete like many of the people her age. Being that she was home schooled, she could learn at her own pace. That was the reason that she had a diploma for high school at seventeen. Her parents taught her at her own learning pace and she blazed through many subjects and passed the tests.

So while many people would have jobs to do or studying to do, wasn't one of them. Being on a journey and having a leg injury at the same time was quite a terrible predicament. Conelle had a week to herself until Calem came back from Ambrette town and she intended to spend the whole time being bored.

Conelle crutched away from the park, her destination, the nearest cafe. There where many of them near the park due to the nice view. She just wanted the closest one. The cafe Conelle picked had a nice little balcony overlooking the small field of grass, trees, and pathways. She slowly made her way over to it.

At the entrance, a nice man who was leaving the cafe held the door open. She politely thanked him as she awkwardly made her way inside. The second she was fully inside of the cafe a waitress assaulted her.

"Hello ma'am good afternoon. What can I do for you today?" the waitress said.

"I would like a table for one if you don't mind." Conelle said in response.

"Certainly ma'am right this way. Follow me and watch your step. There is a little bit of a bump going through the doorway into the dining room." the waitress walked away with a menu in hand.

Once she was seated, Conelle moved her crutches to the side, the little nuisances, and took a good long look at what was on the menu. Nearly every thing looked good. The sandwiches look especially delectable. Eventually she made her decision. Tea and a nice looking vegetarian sandwich. By no means was Conelle a vegetarian, she did in fact enjoy meat on the occasion, but did not eat it all the time. Her favorite in the meat department had to be any kind of steak.

After maybe ten minutes of waiting, the waitress came back with a tray. On the tray was exactly what she ordered. A hot cup of tea and a nice sandwich chock full of fruit and vegetables. Fruit on the sandwich was a little bit strange for her tastes but still quite enjoyable.

Before Conelle knew it, her meal was gone. Her cup of tea was empty, and the plate that harbored her sandwich was empty save for a few crumbs. At the time of her finishing the meal, the clock above the door frame read 1:34.

Through a nearby window Conelle could see that some dark clouds where slowly moving their way into the sky. The weather channel had never said anything about a storm or even cloudy skies. Nonetheless, Conelle made the decision to head back to her hotel room just in case it did start to pour.

Conelle left a tip for the waitress on the table and hobbled up to the counter in order to pay for her meal. Once that was finished she left the establishment to make the trip back to the hotel. From the cafe it was probably a ten minute walk, but she was disabled. The walk to the hotel took nearly fifteen minutes of her slow pace.

 **A/N: Yeah so I found chapter 5 in my computer's files and thought "why not?" So i'm posting it now, but I don't know if you guys can expect another one soon. It may be that sudden desire and inspiration to write for this story may spring up. This chapter was written a few months ago and was never edited because my editor is lazy, so there may be errors.**


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